|
Harvest Equinox
Sunstead
Evan McCallum
The place of the ritual should have an altar near the north of the area. Beyond the altar hang a banner of the Odin rune in black cloth with silver or gold markings. Place a rune banner for Freya to one side of the Odin rune and one for Thor to the other side. (Suitable images representing the three Deities may replace the banners.) The patron deities of this festival are Thor and Sif, who are married.
On the altar should be an incense brazier, a sword or dagger and a drinking horn in its center. Have a jug of mead or ale available beneath or beside the altar. You may want to have copies of the rite for the participants.
Place many fruits, vegetables and other foods of the season about the altar and at the base of the rune banners. Scatter autumn leaves on the altar and before the rune banners.
Light the ritual area only with fire. Have candles or torches on or beside the altar, to be lit during the ceremony. Place one at each Quarter and before each rune banner. Before beginning, light a small taper on the altar in order to light the other candles or torches and to aid reading. When using altar candles, they should both be red.
Devotees may carry hand held banners or standards of the Odin rune, symbolizing the gods of Valhalla, or heroes of our own people. Appropriate music would be Wagner's "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla" followed by "Siegfried's Rhine Journey." Alternatively, continuously play "Autumn," from Walter Carlos' "Sonic Seasonings." Some may prefer other music, or even storm or other nature sounds. If available, a bull's horn or other appropriate musical instrument should signal the start of the rite.
Besides the Godi (Priest), it is best that a Godia (Priestess) lead the ritual. If a woman of the Folk is not available, place flowers before the banner of Freya, and the Godi (or any other) may speak the words of the Godia.
When all is in readiness, assemble the folk. (If there is room, the Godi and Godia may lead a Procession of Honor, ending before the altar.) The Godi lights the candles or torches beside the altar.
Calling the Far Realms
The Godi or Godia sounds the summoning horn and all gather in a semicircle before the altar. Godi calls for a period of silence of at least thirteen heartbeats, as all put themselves in a calm and meditative state. Godi lights the candle or torch before the Odin banner and says:
Great Odin, we do now work this rite in Your honor. Be with us here, we do ask.
Godia:
O fair and magical Freya, we do now work this rite in Your honor. Be with us here, we do ask.
Godi (or other):
Strong and sturdy Thor, we do now work this rite in Your honor. Be with us here, we do ask.
Godia (or other so chosen) turns briefly to the East and salutes, saying:
O winds of the East, blow soft, cool, and sweet upon our people and our Lands. Hail Odin!
All:
Hail Odin!
Godi (or other so chosen) turns briefly to the South and gives salute, saying:
O Warm sun of the South, shine brightly upon our people and our lands. Hail Odin!
All:
Hail Odin!
Godia (or other so chosen) turns briefly to the West and salutes, saying:
O blue waters of the West, flow cool and giving of life for our people and our lands. Hail Odin!
All:
Hail Odin!
Godi (or other so chosen) turns briefly to the North and salutes saying:
O lands of the North, and of all the places of our people, give rich crops and calm souls for our people. Hail Odin!
All:
Hail Odin!
The Blot Rite
Godia takes the jug of mead and holds it for the Godi. He takes the dagger and touches the point to the jug, saying:
Great Odin, accept this as sacrifice in honor of You, in honor of our gods, and in honor of ourselves. Place Your blessing within this good mead, so that we may draw upon your wisdom, and gain victory in all that we do. Hail Odin!
All:
Hail Odin!
Godi puts down the dagger, takes and opens the jug and half fills the Blot-Bowl. He takes the bowl and dips the aspergillum or a bundle of leaves into the mead, and briefly sprinkles each of the worshipers, saying:
You are blessed in the Name of Odin.
When all have been blessed, the Godia takes the bowl and leaves and similarly blesses the Godi. Then she replaces all upon the altar, turns to those present and says:
At this time, as in times far past, are those of us who follow the Old Ones blessed and consecrated in their sacred presence. May the strength, power, magick and wisdom, the courage and the steadfastness of the gods themselves remain forever within each of us. Hail Odin!
All:
Hail Odin!
Calling the Great Ones
Godi lights the candle or torch before the Odin banner and says:
O Great Odin, Azure-Cloaked Wanderer from the far, ancient lands of our people, Lord of the Shining Ones who do protect our land, our folk and our families, we call to Thee to be with us here. We call to Thee across all of time and all the worlds of the gods. Your people are still here, O Wise One. Come to us again, and give us to drink of Thy cauldron of life and of inspiration that we may prosper once again. Come to us now and be with us here? Odin the wise! Hail Odin!
All:
Hail Odin!
Godia lights the candle or torch in front of the Freya banner and says:
O Leader of the Wind-Riders, You who weave fates and destinies and before whose magicks men and gods do bow, consort to the great Odin of the shining Lands of the Gods, we call on Thee, O Freya the Fair One! Be with us here in this rite! Hail Freya!
All:
Hail Freya!
Godi (or other) lights the candle or torch before the Thor banner and says:
O red bearded thunderer, friend and protector of our people, before whose mighty hammer neither god nor man can stand, we call on Thee, O mighty Thor! Be with us here in this rite! Hail Thor!
All:
Hail Thor!
Harvest Sunstead
Godia:
O Patrons of the Harvest Season, we give You Salutations and feast in Your honor. Thor—protector of farmstead, field and pasture, and all those who labor for a living—Lady Sif of the Golden Hair, whose magic tresses are as the rich gold of the autumn harvest, we do ask that Your blessings surround us. We thank You for this bountiful food which You have given us. Cast Your blessing upon this bounty, that it may give strength to our good people, and lead us farther along the paths of the Gods. Hail Thor!
All:
Hail Thor!
Godia:
Hail Sif of the Golden Hair!
All:
Hail Sif of the Golden Hair!
Godia:
It is at this time that we must prepare ourselves and our people, our homes, our lands, and our families for the hard seasons that may lie before us.
Godi:
This is the fetching-in, or summer. As we store up food for the body of each and all of our folk, so also must we put in store strength for the spirit and soul until the spring, when the fair seasons are reborn once again.
This season marks the decline of the year, towards the severe season to come. So let us prepare for the lean times, for ourselves and for our people. Hail Earth, Mother of all!
All:
Hail Earth, Mother of all!
Godi:
At this time and at this place do we gather to celebrate the Harvest Equinox by giving thanks to our gods and to the Force of Life which is older than even the gods themselves.
We give thanks for the new season, and for the strength and ability to grow and adapt to this change in the world about us.
Godia:
Watcher of the East, tell us of your thoughts.
Watcher of the East:
Though we and our children and our children's children reach to the stars and beyond, though we learn to evoke worlds, and our creations tower to the skies beneath a million million suns? The true nature of the Force of Life? The reason why it ever strives to grow, spread and reproduce? May forever elude our questioning and seeking.
Godia:
Watcher of the South, tell us of your thoughts
Watcher of the South:
That which we salute at this season was here for countless eons ere men had need for Gods to guide them and their clans. We cannot alter the way of the Life Forces, but we can always try to know it better, and thus better survive and prosper in this world.
Godi:
Watcher of the West, tell us of your thoughts.
Watcher of the West:
Long before the first of our distant ancestors raised his head to call to the stars above, long before the dawn of humankind and in races for older than ours, did clans, tribes and societies exist to spread and to strive for life as if merely existing made life easier for the individuals within them. Our archaic kinfolk looked upon their clans, their tribes, their folk and their families as part of Great Nature, as a part of the Life Force itself.
Godi:
Watcher of the North, tell of your thoughts.
Watcher of the North:
Our folk in times far distant looked upon the leaders and heroes of our past as the greatness of the Life Force in human form. As year passed to year, decade to decade and century to century, the stories of the exploits of our Great Ones became myths and legend, and the Great Ones became Gods. They shall ever be the examples to follow for the furtherance of the clan and the tribe.
Listen and know ye well: all life, then as now, depends on social organization of our people. It is to our own self-interest, and to the good of our folk, our tribes and our clans that we honor the Gods.
Godi:
Our distant ancestors honored this Harvest Sunstead as they saluted the sturdy Thor as farmer, and the beauteous and bountiful Sif as his wife and companion. Their lessons speak down through the ages, as strongly to us as those gone long before? Determination, persistence, boldness in taking honorable risks and a loyalty that knows no bounds.
Godia:
What now says the Watcher of the East in this time and at this place?
Watcher of the East:
Press on! Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not—nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not—unrewarded genius is proverbial. Education alone will not—the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone shall over come.
Godia:
What now says the Watcher of the South in this time at this place?
Watcher of the South:
To each and all I say: don't be afraid to fail, you've failed many times although you may not remember. You fell down the first time you tried to walk. You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, perhaps. Don't worry about failure? Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.
Godia:
What now says the Watcher of the West in this time and at this place?
Watcher of the West:
Imagination is the one human trait that can feed itself and grow stronger. It is the human imagination that gives security, wealth, power, children and happiness. All that makes our lives better comes first from the imagination.
Hearken and know Ye well, the labors of the body can support the body alone. Rote use of the mind shall ever barely feed the mind and body. The initial source of sustenance beyond bare sustenance, that which puts us beyond the beasts of the fields, is imagination.
To gain life's goals requires self-determination, persistence, and confidence in self and imagination. Listen well to my words. To gain all these virtues and all which life can give you requires that you imagine, and imagine strongly, that you have these virtues. Visualize your virtues. They shall be produced within you. And as the day follows the night, success and victory shall be yours!
Godia:
What now says the Watcher of the North in this time at this place?
Watcher of the North:
We must always strive and seek. It is in our deepest nature and as old as life itself. It is the gift that the Gods gave to us so that we and our people shall prosper and grow, so that in times to come our own descendants shall look back and say: "We give honor, O Great Ones, for your labors and your striving have given us Empires beyond imagining!"
Godia:
Thus it always has been, Thus it is now, and thus it shall be in times to come. So be it!
Salutation to Harvest
There shall be a pause of 20 heartbeats. If a bull's horn (or other appropriate instrument) is available, sound it.
Godi:
Let us now fill our drinking-horn before the Gods, and drink in honor of the season.
Fill the drinking-horn on the altar. The Godia (or chosen) takes it first to the Godi, then to all in the ritual, saying to each when presenting the horn:
The richness of the Harvest Season is all about us at this time. Drink now to Thor and Sif, the Great Ones of this Season!
After drinking, the celebrant says: "Hail to Thor and Sif!" or whatever he or she wishes, then hands the drinking horn back to the Godia (or other) who takes it to the next celebrant and repeats the process.
Closing
When it is time to end, the Godia or Godi all stand in a silent meditation for the time of thirteen heartbeats. The Godia or Godi then holds out the sword in salute before the rune banner(s) saying:
The time for our rite is ended. Let us give thanks for this time when we may be with the gods. As we go our ways, may the spirit of far Valhalla and the High Gods of the shining land, go ever with us, with our children and with our people. Hail Odin! (Salute)
All:
Hail Odin! (Salute)
The Godia or Godi replaces the sword upon the altar, and says:
This rite is ended. Go Ye ever in the Way of the Gods and live their blessing.
After the ceremony pour any drink remaining in the drinking horn at the base of a tree with an improvised salutation to the Grey-Cloaked One.
1989, Evan McCallum.
The Odinist Tradition
Evan McCallum's Odinist Wheel of the Year continues this issue with the Harvest Equinox Sunstead and the Time of the Spirits. This Sunstead celebrates the second harvest, on the Equinox. The following festival is the Odinists' Samhain, a celebration of the last harvest and communion with the other realms. This is scheduled for November 1st, the time that the veil between the worlds is thinnest. (On the previous evening, Hallowe'en, the Odinist calendar lists a separate ceremony. Only the Time of the Spirits is in this issue because it is one of the eight High Holy Days. Also, it is easier to be sure everyone gets the ritual in time than if it were in the next issue, where it technically belongs.)
Remember that, at this dawning of this New Age, "folk," "culture,""peoples," etc. are what we make them. For instance, many of us find our "family by choice" to be closer than our family by birth. In the New Age, a "folk" is a group with a homogeneity of spirit, rather than of DNA. The "One Planet, One People" bumper stickers do not call for genocide. Similarly, "Folk" asks us to recognize our unity as a species and a planet and to manifest it as a unity of will to create the best world we can. | 
